This invention relates in general to a co-extruded car trim (CECT) reclaiming process and apparatus, and in particular to apparatus for automatically classifying and separately collecting the constituent components of CECT.
An estimated 6.5 million pounds per year of waste co-extruded car trim is produced in the manufacture of car trim. A typical piece of CECT contains a strip of metal which has been extruded with a plastic coating. CECT is primarily stainless steel and PVC, although it may comprise other metals and plastics. Both of these materials are commercially valuable when separated from each other. Discarded CECT provides a particularly significant source of metal and plastics.
Currently known methods for processing co-extruded car trim are inefficient and expensive. For example, cryogrinding the trim in liquid nitrogen can successfully separate the metal component from the plastic component in a continuous process, but is prohibitively expensive due to the cost of liquid nitrogen.
Thus, there is a need for a relatively economical and effective way to process discarded CECT so as to reclaim valuable materials which make up CECT.